The concept of prepaid utility service was initially developed in South Africa in the late 1980s as a means of providing energy to geographically dispersed users with limited financial wealth. The idea proved successful, and prepaid utility meters quickly saw widespread use in other developing countries such as India, China, Turkey, and Argentina, just to name a few. Today, prepaid utility meters enjoy significant popularity in affluent countries as well. The reason for this is the many benefits that prepaid utilities provide.
Because prepaid meters automatically block and resume utility service as prepaid accounts are depleted and then replenished, utility companies do not incur the cost associated with repeated “truck rolls” to disconnect and reconnect service. Utility companies can also reduce collection costs and improve cash flow because payment is received in advance of service.
Utility users also report positive experiences with prepaid service. Users can more closely monitor their utility consumption and adjust their use accordingly. Budgeting is easier because prepaid service does not require lump-sum payments. Landlords similarly favor prepaid utility meters. By ensuring tenants are paying for their utility use, for example, landlords do not get stuck with large unpaid bills at the end of a lease.
However, despite significant advancements made in the area of prepaid metering technology, the use of prepaid utility meters still holds challenges for consumers, particularly in the area of account management. Users must anticipate their rate of consumption and ensure accounts are replenished to avoid disruptions in service. In some instances, periods of absence, such as vacations, can complicate account management efforts. It is in this area that improvements to the state of the art are possible.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system for predicting an estimated remaining utility usage and adjusting an alert threshold for a prepaid utility meter account.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the description and drawings do not necessarily require the order illustrated. It will be further appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.